Category Archives: Peru

Screened this for the first time yesterday and it generated a lot of discussion, so I thought I’d share. It’s powerful and very well done. Highly recommended. Plus, the whole thing is available to watch free online:

Accolade Award winning Feature Documentary “Open Pit” is a tour de force of investigative journalism and guerilla filmmaking that reveals the vicious face of “dirty gold” in Peru. A film by Gianni Converso. Produced by Daniel Santana and Gianni Converso.

In the heart of Cajamarca, Newmont Mining Corporation operates the Yanacocha Gold Mine, one of the largest Open Pit mining operations in the world.

Using the cyanide leach process, Newmont Mining has come to define “dirty gold” for a generation of Campecinos – the indigenous people who have lived at the top of the Peruvian Andes since the Inca civilization.

Faced with devastating mercury pollution, heavy metals and acid mine drainage, the people of Cajamarca fight a desperate battle to defend their water resources, their families – and their way of life.

Backed by money from the International Finance Corporation and The World Bank, Newmont Mining enforces their business model through corruption, intimidation and violence.

Open Pit is a tour de force of investigative journalism and guerilla filmmaking that reveals the vicious face of “dirty gold” in Peru.

Like this:

Plácida at her loom, weaving a manta — a cloth for carrying babies and other fun uses. This was in Patacancha, Peru, a village near the town of Ollantaytambo. The women there have a weaving cooperative to sell their crafts in collaboration with an NGO called Awamaki.

Dancer, pre-Easter parade, Cuzco.

A linda (the pretty girl), Olinda. When I went to set up at the gallery today, another artist asked, “That hat, is that a surgery thing?” No — it’s a hairnet. This girl was working at her grandmother’s tapioca stand in Olinda, Brazil, and mugging for the camera.

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Framed prints of these photos will be available for sale at The Trouble with Girls All-Female Art Revue this Saturday, April 28, from 7pm to midnight at The Bubble, 810 NE 4th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304. I’m going out of town and won’t be there, but if you’re in South Florida, come out for what looks to be an amazing show! Besides the awesome ladies showcasing their art, you’ve got:

Live music by Haochi Waves and Dooms De Pop!

Fun Burlesque acts by Aurora Natrix and Sofia Luna

Yumminess by Ms Cheezious Food Truck

Good-mood tunes by DJ Cobra

Hydration provided by PBR & Redbull

… With all that, how can you go wrong? Come out Saturday! 7 to midnight!

"Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten." Cree Indian Prophecy